NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 5 — 500 laps / 266.5 miles Bristol Motor Speedway (0.533-mile oval) — Bristol, Tenn.
Fast Facts for March 16-17, 2024
Tire: Goodyear Eagle 18-inch Speedway Radials
Set limits: Cup: 1 set for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 10 sets for the race (9 race sets plus 1 set transferred from qualifying)
Tire Codes: Left-side — D-5170; Right-side — D-5206
Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,254 mm (88.74 in.); Right-side — 2,276 mm (89.61 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 16 psi; Left Rear — 18 psi; Right Front — 46 psi; Right Rear — 44 psi
Storyline — Spring Bristol back on concrete ground: After three years of running the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway on a dirt surface, NASCAR returns to the early-season event being on the concrete in 2024. As the sport continues to make adjustments with this Next Gen car, Goodyear took a step at Bristol last September to introduce more wear and get more lap-time fall-off. Tuning a tire set-up to the relatively smooth concrete track surface is a difficult challenge. Designing a tire with more fall-off improves the racing by increasing passing and bringing tire management into play as drivers that are easier on their tires early in a run will gain track position later in that run.
“When we race on a concrete surface, certainly one of our goals is getting a tire to wear,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear‘s director of racing. “Concrete, like we have at Bristol this weekend, is generally a relatively smooth surface and does not promote a lot of wear. We took a step with our right-side tire last fall at Bristol with a compound change, and we return on that set-up for this race. Tire wear is good for racing because it leads to lap-time fall-off and more passing throughout a run.”
Notes — Cup returns to Bristol on fall ‘23 tire set-up: Being on 18-inch bead diameter tires, NASCAR Cup teams will run a different tire set-up than those in the Craftsman Truck Series at Bristol this weekend . . . this is the same left-side tire code Cup teams have run on the Bristol concrete since September 2022 . . . this right-side tire code was added to the Bristol set-up last September . . . while this right-side tire code is unique to Bristol, Cup teams are scheduled to run this left-side code at Dover in April . . . with this 18-inch tire, and its lower profile sidewall, NASCAR Cup cars do not run inner liners in any of their tires.
Wet Weather Tires — Goodyear bringing wet weather tires to Bristol for first time: Goodyear will bring its 18-inch wet weather radial tires to Bristol for the NASCAR Cup cars, should NASCAR determine that conditions warrant . . . NASCAR held a test with Cup cars at Bristol on February 8 to assess the feasibility of running in wet conditions on the fast, high-banked short track . . . Cup teams will have a maximum of 4 sets of wet weather tires for the event . . . NASCAR Cup teams last ran a wet weather tire in competition at the Chicago street course last July, and last ran it on a short track in the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro last May . . . in addition to the obvious difference of a tread pattern versus Goodyear‘s dry weather “slick” tires, the “Goodyear” and “Eagle” lettering on the sidewalls of the wet weather tires is white, not the standard yellow.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series — Race No. 4 — 250 laps / 133.3 miles Bristol Motor Speedway (0.533-mile oval) — Bristol, Tenn.
Fast Facts for March 15-16, 2024
Tire: Goodyear Eagle 15-inch Speedway Radials
Set limits: Craftsman Truck: 5 sets for the event
Tire Codes: Left-side — D-6106; Right-side — D-6132
Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,225 mm (87.60 in.); Right-side — 2,250 mm (88.58 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 20 psi; Left Rear — 18 psi; Right Front — 45 psi; Right Rear — 40 psi
Notes —Trucks return to Bristol for third time on this tire set-up: Being on 15-inch bead diameter tires, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams will run a different tire set-up than those in the Cup Series at Bristol this week . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that teams in both of these series have run at Bristol since September 2022 . . . unlike on most NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length, Truck teams will run inner liners in their right-side tires only at Bristol . . . air pressure in the liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
Wet Weather Tires — Goodyear bringing wet weather tires to Bristol for first time: Goodyear will bring 15-inch wet weather radial tires to Bristol for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams, should NASCAR determine that conditions warrant . . . Truck teams will have a maximum of 3 sets of wet weather tires for the event . . . the Trucks have run this wet weather tire in competition at both the Martinsville and North Wilkesboro ovals last season . . . in addition to the obvious difference of a tread pattern versus Goodyear‘s dry weather “slick” tires, the “Goodyear” and “Eagle” lettering on the sidewalls of the wet weather tires is white, not the standard yellow.
— Goodyear Racing —
